Stuff about, you know, puzzles

Monthly Archives: January 2010

I really enjoyed reading Foggy’s list of standards for puzzle creation. Rules 1-4 Rules 5-9Rules 10-12 I especially liked number eleven: “No a-has is dull, one a-ha is fun, two a-has is a stretch, and three a-has is a slog.”

Jonathan rarely reads my writeups. On the occasion he does, he often complains about their accuracy. I think he said at one point that they maybe averaged being 90% accurate. Given the limitations of human memory (especially mine), I’m almost surprised it’s that high. I comfort myself that, like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, […]

(Part 1 and Part 2) Clue Eight – A Quick Exercise I went and grabbed some water that GC was kind enough to provide as Given, Rob, William, and Jonathan sat down to solve our next puzzle. It had a list of people you would never expect to play baseball, their position, and batting order. […]

(Part 1) Clue Four – Handwriting Analysis Eliminating travel time from scoring consideration had some side benefits: We could grab food and/or take care of other things before requesting the puzzle. That way our team isn’t discombobulated and split up doing several different things instead of all of us working on the puzzle. Since our […]

Up until now, it’s normally been Jonathan and I who would participate in the conference room-style puzzle hunt. Lately, though, Given has taken a liking to them. His first experience was with Microsoft Puzzlehunt 123 and he loved it. This year, he’s joining Jonathan and Eric in Boston on the Silly Hat Brigade team for […]

Prologue: Eye on the Prize A week or so before BANG 25: Back to School, I stood in Kmart’s electronic division and gave Jonathan a call. I explained to him where I was and that I had found a candidate for our prize to bring to the event. “It’s Guitar Hero 3 with guitar for […]